GRE Writing Practice

Some people believe that college students should consider only their own talents and interests when choosing a field of study. Others believe that college students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.

Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the view presented.

Everyone today talks about how hard it is to find a job, even with a college education. I graduated almost a two years ago, and most of the people I graduated with have yet to find work. Of the ones who are working, very few of us are working in our field of study. This leads to the argument should college students focus on what they have talent and interest in or should they focus on job availability. It may seem after saying that most of us do not work in our field of study I would say to focus on job availability; it is precisely that however, that leads me to say college students should study what they are interested in, but temper that with knowledge of job outlook in their chosen field.

Most students entering college now are undeclared majors their first year at least while they decide what they want to do. They want to find something that they are interested in, but they also want to find a job. I knew many business majors in college who chose business simply because it was versatile and they thought it would make it easier to find a job. Because there were so many of them however, they have oversaturated their field, which is at the same time dealing with a bad economy. For the jobs that are available, older workers with more experience are applying and getting the jobs available. Unless they have outstanding talent and interest in a particular aspect of business, it is hard for them to find their place in the field. Being of simply average ability will not cut it.

On the other side of choosing simply on job outlook, there is the case of my sister. She was never the best student in high school, but she excelled in two subjects, nursing and theater. She faced math classes with dread and often tears but studied religiously for her nursing class. Theater was an outlet for her and she enjoyed being on stage and even directing her senior year. When the time came to pick a major for college, she had two subjects that she loved, but chose nursing over theater. She knew it would be very hard to break into the theater world, and chose a safer route that she still loved. Nursing school was not easy, but without her commitment to the field she would have never made it. Choosing something that she loved and had talent in helped her to graduate with a degree in nursing and a job at a local hospital.

It is the case of my sister that students should look to when trying to decide a field of study. If one chooses a major simply for job outlook, they may not have the drive needed to finish their course of study. Nursing has a good job outlook in our area, but it is not an easy course. Business might be a versatile degree that provides many avenues for work, but with so many flocking to it, unless one has outstanding talent, it is hard to get noticed. In choosing their field of study, students should consider these things. Without some talent and interest, completing a course of study might be difficult. To only choose based on these two however leads to cases when a person might graduate with a degree that leads them nowhere. Students should temper their wants with practicality and look at both when deciding what to study.